Had two children, a boy (Sean) born in 1957 and a girl (Cameron) born in 1960. Both children became lawyers.

Played one season of college basketball at Stetson University in the 1960s and averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Worked as a staff announcer for WFAA radio in Dallas prior to his acting career and was part of WFAA's ongoing coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Among the first to interview assassination eyewitnesses William and Gayle Newman.